I lost my place for a few seconds, but otherwise, I think, improving.

While I hope to improve my skills at making people laugh, my long-term goal is to develop more social and emotional skills of leadership, as I teach and coach my students and clients. I live and practice what I teach and coach.

I’m doing this to

• Face and overcome anxiety
• Empathize with people
• Find and express universal sentiments that we know but don’t express
• Allow myself to be vulnerable with an audience
• Learn to read a room
• And so on

Comedians find ways to say what others can’t, which I consider important. I intend to develop that skill too.

I think many people dream of at least trying an open-mic performance once but a small fraction of them do it. I’ve felt the tug for a while, certainly since the incredible learning experience of acting and improv classes.

I wasn’t going to let myself be someone who always thought about it but never did it. Once I started, I sensed the value to public performance and wasn’t going to pass on the chance to learn.

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